Friday, August 19, 2022: The Nigerian Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX Window opened the trading session on a bullish note with the naira trading at N428/$1, appreciating by O.3 percent from the previous closing price of N429.38/$1. As intra-day trading progressed, the naira slipped down to close at N429.05/$1, shedding off 0.2 percent from the opening price. On a day-on-day basis, the naira also declined by 0.08 percent from N429.38.
An exchange rate of N444/$ was the highest rate recorded during the intra-day trading before it settled at N429.05/$ at the end of the trading session, while it also traded as low as 415.06/$ during intra-day trading. According to data from FMDQ, a total of $50.22 million was traded at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window for the reporting period, representing an increase of 3 percent from the $63.30 million traded the previous day.
The naira maintained the N675 exchange rate at the parallel market with the dollar. Despite this, the outlook of the parallel market exchange rate is gloomy as the naira still highly unstable. The naira strengthened by 1.5 percent against the dollar on a week-on-week basis. Trading activities at the B2B market show that the exchange rate closed at about N680/$ for the same period being reported. This is based on the information obtained from forex marketers in Lagos.
Foreign Reserves
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the gross foreign reserve stands at $38.907 billion as of August 18, 2022, increasing by $1.3 million (0.003 percent) from $38.906 billion recorded on August 17, 2022.
Capital Market Update
As of August 19, 2022, the Nigerian equities market closed the trading session with the NGX All Share Index (ASI) declining by 35 basis points (bps) to close at 49370.62. The trading volume was 132,232,997 units, while the total value that exchanged hands as of the close of trading was N1,625,929,916.58.
The indices for sectors under our review increased except for one which recorded a decline. Banking, consumer goods, Insurance, and Pension recorded a bullish performance as their indices closed in green, while the oil and gas index declined. The banking index, having the highest increase, rose by 23 basis points (bps), Consumer Goods by 6 bps, insurance by 3 bps, pension by 3 bps, while oil and gas declined by 15 bps.
JAIZBANK stock led the top gainers as it rose by 5.95 percent, while UPL led the decliners after dropping by 9.95 percent. FBNH emerged as the most traded stock by volume and by value as 37,766,388 units of its stock were exchanged for the value of N418,666,335.05.
